


Four Firsts and A Forever

by S_Horne



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-17 08:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13654824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/pseuds/S_Horne
Summary: Magnus let out a chuckle and reached out his hand, letting it trail down Alec’s arm teasingly.  “But what if I said that I wanted to date you?”Alec shrugged his shoulders lightly.  “It’s your funeral.”  He suddenly froze and his eyes opened comically wide.  “Oh my God.  It wouldn’t actually be your funeral--I’m not going to murder you!” He covered his face with his hands and moaned noisily but pulled his hands away from his face incredulously when he heard boisterous laughter coming from the other man instead of the hasty retreat that Alec had been expecting.“I think I’m going to like you, Alexander Lightwood.”/Four times that Magnus and Alec experience a relationship ‘first’ and one time they know it’s forever.





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Shadowhunters Valentine's Day Big Bang.
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely [musicbookfandomlover](http://musicalbookfandomlover.tumblr.com/)

“Oh, God! Sorry!  I’m so sorry, here; let me get that!”  Alec hadn’t been looking where he’d been going and had collided with another man in the middle of the thankfully otherwise empty sidewalk.  He had been totally engrossed in his phone and had crashed into the other man, sending his papers flying everywhere, folders crashing to the ground and a messenger bag hitting the sidewalk with a loud noise.  Alec’s head had shot up at the impact and he fell to a squat quickly, apologies falling from his lips as his hands darted out to grab the other man’s belongings before the wind could catch the loose papers or the folders could get any dirtier.  His hands brushed against someone else’s and he looked up, more apologies dying in his throat when he saw his companion for the first time.

“It’s quite alright,” the other man assured with a soft smile.  “I wasn’t looking where I was going either.  My meeting overran and I had to change my next appointment time, so my head was quite literally somewhere else.”

Alec faltered, his cheeks flaming as his eyes darted away back down to the ground.  He gathered up the last bits still on the ground and stood up quickly, pushing the other man’s folders back at him with yet another stuttered apology.

“Magnus Bane,” the man said, accepting the folders and shuffling them into one arm so that he could hold out a carefully-manicured hand.  Alec stared at it for a moment before jolting and taking it in his own.

“Alec Lightwood.”

“Well, thank you for helping me pick these up.”  The tone Magnus used was far too flirty and did absolutely nothing to help the red flush on Alec’s cheeks.

“It was my fault they ended up on the ground anyway,” Alec muttered, finally releasing Magnus’ hand and moving his own behind his back before he did anything stupid like try and pull the other man into a tight hug and never let him go.

Magnus grinned at him and took a step forward, his voice dropping into a decidedly flirty octave.  “I suppose it was, Alexander.”

“I really hope nothing was ruined,” Alec said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “those papers looked pretty important.”

“Oh, nonsense.  They’re for a layout for my magazine but it’s fine--no harm done,” Magnus waved him off with another disarming smile which had Alec stumbling and spluttering.  When Alec said nothing else and only looked more awkward, the older man took pity on him and turned on his heel with another grateful smile.  Magnus sighed inwardly as he walked away, but it hadn’t looked like Alec had been interested in anything further.  Maybe he wasn’t even gay.  His blushing probably had more to do with Magnus’s flirting than actual attraction.  He resolved to push the other man from his mind, as hard as that task would be.  Despite only having met him a matter of moments ago, there was something about Alec that Magnus thought was going to stick in his mind.  Magnus looked down at the papers in his hand with a heavy sigh. Damn, that layout really was ruined now – he knew he should have stuck it down before leaving the office.

Alec stood frozen in the middle of the sidewalk for a few moments as he stared after the beautiful man, watching as he walked away from him.  He knew right then that he couldn’t let this man go.  He was suddenly off before his brain could catch up, running down the sidewalk until he caught up with Magnus.  He reached out a hand and pulled the other man gently to a stop.

“I’m sorry,” Alec stammered as Magnus turned to look at him in shock.  “This is very forward of me, but I couldn’t just let you go.”

Magnus didn’t say anything as Alec continued, talking himself into a right state.  “I know we just met and I made a terrible first impression what with walking right into you and knocking your things everywhere, but I was just wondering if you’d like to go for a coffee or something.  Um, with me?”  He suddenly pulled his hand away from Magnus like he had been burnt and slapped it over his eyes as another thought hit him.

“Oh God, you’re probably not even gay, are you?  It’s just, you know… The make-up and the necklaces; oh shit, that’s so stereotypical. I’m so sorry.  Eugh, Izzy’s gonna kill me.”  He dropped his head back and groaned loudly, turning on his heel with every intention of running a mile in the opposite direction when Magnus’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“I’m bisexual actually.”

Alec turned around again slowly and took in Magnus’s smirk as the man continued talking.

“And you’re cute, especially when you blush like that.”  Magnus lifted a hand and waved it close to Alec’s face, enjoying as the colour grew even more pronounced when attention was drawn to it.  He pretended to ponder for another moment before winking mischievously; “I think I’d rather enjoy that date.  With you, I mean.”

“You’re so beautiful,” Alec breathed out before blanching when he realised he had said that aloud.  He closed his eyes and cursed himself.  “Sorry! I am coming on way too strong.  If you want to cancel the date then go ahead.  Actually, I think I’d judge you if you didn’t cancel the date.”

“I’m not going to cancel,” Magnus said, a playful smile dancing around his lips.

“Really?”  Alec had disbelief written all over his face as he scoffed a self-depreciating laugh.  “I’m definitely judging you, then.”

Magnus let out a chuckle and reached out his hand, letting it trail down Alec’s arm teasingly.  “But what if I said that I wanted to date you?”

Alec shrugged his shoulders lightly.  “It’s your funeral.”  He suddenly froze and his eyes opened comically wide.  “Oh my God.  It wouldn’t actually be your funeral--I’m not going to murder you!  Oh shit!”  He covered his face with his hands and moaned noisily.  “Please feel free to stop me at any time.”

Alec pulled his hands incredulously away from his face when he heard boisterous laughter coming from the other man instead of the hasty retreat that Alec had been expecting.  Magnus wiped his eyes delicately and pointed a finger at Alec.

“I think I’m going to like you, Alexander Lightwood.”


	2. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two men sat opposite each other, the restaurant loud and busy around them. Their eyes flickered back and forth, catching each other’s gaze before glancing away again quickly. They sat there for a long while, neither man saying anything whilst a hundred opening sentences ran through their heads. They’d been texting back and forth for a week before planning their first date but now that they were face to face nothing sounded casual enough, or witty enough, or interesting enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be up yesterday and I apologise for that. 
> 
> Thanks again to my lovey beta for being so patient with me

The two men sat opposite each other, the restaurant loud and busy around them.  Their eyes flickered back and forth, catching each other’s gaze before glancing away again quickly.  They sat there for a long while, neither man saying anything whilst a hundred opening sentences ran through their heads.  They’d been texting back and forth for a week before planning their first date but now that they were face to face nothing sounded casual enough or witty enough or interesting enough.

They had bought drinks at the bar whilst they waited to be seated and were thankful for those now, sipping them every few seconds when they had been about to break the silence but stopped themselves.

“So –”

“You –”

They both suddenly started talking at the same time and broke off into awkward chuckles, gesturing at the other man to start again.  Magnus took a breath and when he was sure that Alec wasn’t going to speak, he smiled and continued his question.

“May I ask why you chose this restaurant?”

Magnus was delighted to note that Alec blushed a fiery red at the question but his answer was mumbled unintelligibly.  Magnus leant forward and scrunched his face into a questioning expression.

“Excuse me?”

Alec sighed and rubbed his nose, not meeting Magnus’ eyes as he spoke again.  “My sister actually recommended it.  My brother, Jace, brought his girlfriend here once and apparently Lydia couldn’t stop talking about it.  Izzy, that’s my sister, thought that I couldn’t be trusted to pick out my own restaurant for tonight, so, she was the one who booked the table.”

Magnus cooed inwardly as Alec tried, and failed, to sound annoyed at his siblings’ meddling but fondness seeped into his voice the longer he spoke about them.

“Well,” he said with a grin, not wanting to make a big deal of the fact that Alec’s siblings knew of their date. (He was definitely squealing on the inside though). “You can tell her “good choice” from me.”

Alec sat up a little straighter in his chair at that, evidently pleased that Magnus approved of the restaurant if the small but proud smile tugging at his lips was anything to go by.

/

Magnus had just started telling a story about his friends when he was interrupted by a waitress approaching their table.  In her hand she held a jug of water which she set down in the centre of the table, pushing Alec’s drink to one side with a quick nudge of her hand. Before the two men could continue their conversation the waitress turned her body to face Magnus with a wide smile.  (Alec couldn’t help but notice that her hip was definitely jutting out).

“Are you ready to order, Sir?  Or shall I come back in a moment?”

Magnus looked around her at Alec and quirked an eyebrow.  Alec shook his head, his frown twisting into a bashful smile.  

“Honestly, I’ve barely read a word on here,” he said, his blush returning.

The waitress hadn’t turned her head to address Alec, Magnus noted with a hint of amusement – and some hint of anger at her easy dismissal of the other man, – but he smiled at her anyway.  

“We could do with a few more moments if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course, Sir.” _God_ , Alec thought, _her smile was almost nauseating_. “I’ll be back soon.”

She left with a simpering smile at Magnus and far too much sway in her walk but all of Magnus’s attention was back onto his date, the waitress not registering in his mind as soon as she was out of sight.  He bit down his smile at the disgruntled look on Alec’s face as he leant forward on his hands to catch Alec’s gaze.

“I can’t believe we’ve been talking for so long and you are yet to tell me what you do,” Magnus said, abandoning his previous tale to learn more about his partner.

“I’m an engineer,” Alec replied, leaning in subconsciously. “It’s nothing glamorous, not like being a fashion magazine editor, but I like it.”

The conversation took off rapidly from there and the two forgot they were even in a restaurant until the waitress returned, appearing behind Alec and clearing her throat. Alec jumped up in his chair, shocked at the sudden intrusion.  His knees knocked the table from underneath with a loud bang. The movement upset the jug of water that had been set there and cold liquid splashed all over the tablecloth, dripping down onto the floor.  Alec was mortified as he watched the whole thing happen almost in slow motion.  He jumped up from his seat to try and stop it but, as he did so, he only succeeded in catching the tablecloth between his legs.  His drink from the bar spilled as well and the liquid joined the rest of the mess on the now-soaking floor.  Alec’s cheeks flushed a red that he was sure they had never been before and he fanned them desperately. He dropped to the floor and attempted fruitlessly to absorb the spillage with his cloth napkin.

Magnus sat there in shock for a few seconds as the disaster took place in front him before he jumped into action, picking up the still-leaking glasses and moving the menus to an empty table nearby.  The waitress turned on her heel, presumably off to fetch towels to soak up the water.  When Alec realised that his napkin was completely sodden and there was no more that he could do, he sighed and took a deep breath.  He stood up slowly and sunk down into his chair, completely avoiding even chancing a glance towards Magnus.

Magnus wasn’t sure what to say with Alec so clearly mortified, so the two men sat in silence for a long while before the elder asked suddenly:

“Can we go?” He didn’t want the date to end, but he absolutely needed to get out of the stuffy restaurant.  There were far too many people watching, and they were quite obviously placing bets on the nature of their evening.

“Please!”  Alec couldn’t get his agreement out fast enough as he jumped to his feet.  Magnus reached for his wallet, throwing down a few bills to cover the disruption and any trouble that the staff would have to go to in order to tidy up and followed Alec’s hurried footsteps to the door.

/

Once outside they walked side by side, Alec thankful for the chilled air which cooled his cheeks.  They walked in silence for a couple of blocks, each cursing themselves that they had ruined the night or, even worse, ruined whatever this could have been.

Before too long they saw a sign for a late-night food truck advertising fresh pizza slices.  Magnus, not wanting this to be the end before there could even be a start, took a deep breath and a last chance.

“You know, we never got to eat this evening,” he said nonchalantly.

Alec turned to his right and looked at Magnus, unsure of where he was going with this.  “No, we didn’t,” he agreed slowly.

“Buy me a slice of pizza?”  Magnus gestured to the truck with a wave of his hand, his nerves bitten down as he tried to act casual.

Alec recognised the olive branch for what it was and let his own smile play around his lips.  “I’ll buy you two if you finish the story about your cat and your neighbour’s underwear.”

/

“This is the worst movie I’ve ever seen!”

“The youth of today; you’re so uncultured!”

Alec rolled his eyes with a laugh at Magnus’s overly-fake and stereotypical English accent, wiping his hands free of any remaining pizza grease and setting his plate down on the coffee table in front of him.  He settled back onto the couch, suddenly hyper-aware of how close he was sitting to Magnus.  Had the other man moved?  Had he moved?  Magnus leant forward to put down his own plate before Alec could ponder anymore and when he leant back he seemed to have no qualms about his closeness to Alec.  Alec took a deep breath and stretched his arm out across the back of the couch and somehow Magnus moved in even closer, leaning into the other’s side as Alec’s arm curled around his shoulders.  Alec tried as hard as he could to ignore that for now and attempted to refocus his attention back onto the movie in front of him. He laughed again not twelve seconds later at a pathetic one-liner from the main character.  

“This should never have even been made!  How it got past production is beyond me, I mean –”

Alec turned to Magnus to continue his argument but the words died in his throat as he could no longer ignore just how close the other man was to him.  Their faces were only a few inches apart; their laughs shared the same airspace as their eyes dropped down to look at the others’ lips.  Alec’s eyes flickered back up to Magnus’s, just for a second, to see whether he was reading this right.  When he saw nothing but desire and maybe even a flash of hope he closed the gap with a sigh, his lips meeting Magnus’s in a moment of quiet; a moment of perfection.

What had started as an awkward date in an over-crowded, over-hyped restaurant with flirty waitresses and judging eyes had ended with real New York pizza and a shitty B-rated movie, along with jokes and laughter.  It was the start of something that definitely had potential.


	3. First Morning-After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!
> 
> I just want to give yet another public shout out to my beta and the Valentine's Day admins/organisers for being so patient with me at this difficult time.

The sun was shining gently through the thin curtains and illuminating the room with a soft golden glow.  Magnus had woken up pretty early but hadn’t bothered to move, more than happy to bask in the warmth of both the sun and the body lying next to him, pressed against every inch of his side.  Magnus didn’t _want_ to move particularly, didn’t want to ruin this perfect moment. He didn’t want to ever forget the feeling of the moment right then so he just lay there, running his hand through the mop of messy hair resting on his chest and gently teasing out the tangles in the dark locks.

Alec began to stir after a while, nuzzling further into Magnus’ chest and sighing contentedly at the warmth he found.  Knowing that the other man was now awake, Magnus lifted his other hand and began to trace winding patterns up and down Alec’s tanned arm, twists and turns lightly brushing the skin, causing Alec to squirm at the ticklish sensation.

“Good morning,” Magnus whispered, hesitant to break the silence of the perfect morning by speaking too loudly but wanting to greet his lover.

“Good morning,” Alec moaned back softly, his voice husky with sleep. “Mm, don’t stop.”

Magnus grinned and let his touch became bolder, covering a larger span and drawing spirals and twirls down Alec’s back and up to the base of his neck.

“Oh, Simon!”

At Alec’s sigh Magnus froze, his hands coming to a complete stop and his fingertips digging into Alec’s skin. Alec suddenly tensed up as well, his body becoming rigid where it lay atop of Magnus’ as his brain caught up to his words.

“Did you just say –?”  Magnus didn’t finish his question as he lifted his head to look down at Alec.  The younger man turned his head away from Magnus’ gaze and brought one hand up to cover his mouth, closing his eyes in shame.  Magnus pushed himself into a half-sitting position, dislodging Alec who in turn shifted off of Magnus’s body until the two weren’t touching anymore.

“Did you just say another man’s name?  No; not even another man’s.  Did you just say Sheldon’s name?  After everything we did last night? How could –”

Magnus cut his outburst off as he noticed that Alec’s body had begun to shake.  Alec was crying.  

Had he made him cry?  

Magnus made himself take a breath, preparing to calm down and comfort his lover when he suddenly stopped.  As he looked closer, he registered that Alec’s shoulders were moving up and down and that his other hand had joined the first clasped over his mouth to keep his noises quiet.  Alec wasn’t crying; he was laughing.

No, more than that.  He was _giggling_.  His peals of laughter could be held back no longer and Alec began to laugh out loud.  The sound filled the room and Alec’s smile lit up his whole face, his eyes wide and shining.

“I’m sorry!”  He choked out between bursts of sniggers, “I just, I just couldn’t help myself!”  And he was off again, chortling more every time he looked at the shock and indignation on Magnus’ face. Eventually, he calmed himself enough so he could reach out for Magnus without setting himself off again, but as he did so the elder man jolted back and shook off his touch.  

“How could you think that was funny?”  Alec stilled at the anger in Magnus’s voice, at the hurt. “This is our first time waking up next to each other after spending an intimate night together and you thought it would be funny to moan another man’s name?”

“Magnus,” Alec was completely still, all laughter completely gone from his face in the wake of his partner’s pain. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think.”

“Now,” Magnus continued, “if you’d have said Raphael, or even Meliorn, then it would have been funny.  But Sherman?”

Alec’s mouth dropped open.  “Are you kidding?”

“I cannot believe you, Alexander.” Magnus shook his head as he lay back down, twisting so that his back was facing Alec as he stared at the window.  Alec thought for a moment, genuinely concerned that he had upset his partner until he saw the slight up-turn of Magnus’ lips, barely noticeable unless you knew what to look for – and Alec did.  He huffed out a laugh and he lay down behind his partner and wrapped his arms around Magnus’s waist, placing deliberate and unhurried kisses to his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, baby.  I wasn’t thinking.  Please, forgive me?”

Magnus gave no sign of having heard Alec, other than the slight turning of his head away from his boyfriend so that his face was buried in his pillow.

“You know I didn’t mean it, don’t you?” Alec continued, not put off by Magnus’s hiding.  “How could I possibly think of another man when I wake up next to you, the memory of your touch still lingering all over my body?”  He dropped his voice to a husky whisper, his hands now dancing up and down Magnus’ stomach.  He could feel the older man melting into his chest at the touch and knew he was winning.  Alec hid his smile in the nape of Magnus’ neck as he carried on kissing his way up to his prize.  

“Please smile for me, baby.  I don’t want you to be sad; not this morning.”

When Magnus gave no response, Alec sighed mournfully.  “You have left me no choice,” he declared loudly, with a voice full of overly-exaggerated regret. “I guess I’ll just have to make you smile.”

And with that his hands lost their light touch and buried themselves in Magnus’ sides, fingers digging in playfully and tickling Magnus with no mercy.  Magnus gasped in shock at the first touch but quickly descended into helpless giggles, his breath coming faster and faster as he gasped for air, hands darting out in weak attempts to push the other man off of him.

Alec laughed at the sight of his boyfriend, so carefree and light in the early morning as he laughed defencelessly. He wasn’t wearing his usual face of make-up and was deliciously naked of silks, velvets, and jewelry.  Alec marvelled at how wonderful he looked even with tears slipping out of his eyes and his cheeks flushed with joy.  He couldn’t help but bend to kiss Magnus, tickles giving way to heated caresses and breaths coming quickly for a whole new reason as they sank back into their bed and ignored the world for a few more hours.


	4. First 'I Love You'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your response keeps me going! So thank you all

“Cheers.”

Magnus lifted his own glass and chinked it against Alec’s lightly in celebration.

“Cheers,” he returned with a smile.  This was the first time that the two men had seen each other in nearly three weeks, the longest that they had gone for the entirety of their six month relationship.  Magnus had been away on a business trip in London, making it difficult for the men to talk to each other with the time difference added to busy schedules.  While Magnus had been away the two discovered that they might have had slight co-dependency issues, but they were happy.

Magnus’s return had called for a celebration and, when coupled with Alec’s firm having secured funding for a new project, the two men booked a table at a new restaurant in the neighbourhood.  It was a beautiful place, but Alec didn’t seem to be enjoying it; he appeared distant and not his usual self.  Magnus placed his drink back down onto the table after taking a sip and tilted his head to one side as he surveyed his boyfriend.

“Are you alright, darling?”  He asked, reaching a hand across the table to rest atop Alec’s.  Alec smiled and turned his hand over to link his fingers with Magnus’s.

“I’m fine, promise.  I have you back now, don’t I?”

“You do,” Magnus agreed, smiling back automatically.  He wasn’t convinced of his partner’s reassurance, but he let it go and moved on.  “How lonely were your two weeks then, my angel?”  Although they had spoken nearly every night on the phone, Magnus wanted to hear about Alec’s time face to face where Magnus could read every emotion in Alec’s expression.

Alec’s smile hardened ever so slightly before he sighed and answered. “Quiet. Busy. Boring.”

Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand and opened his mouth to speak when Alec continued.  

“But I realised something.”

Magnus made a questioning noise when Alec didn’t elaborate and smiled encouragingly as Alec took a deep breath and spoke again.

“I realised how much I missed you.  I knew I was going to, obviously, but I don’t think I noticed just how much time we spent together until suddenly you weren’t there.

“You sing all the time, even when you don’t know the words.  You moan at me for not eating healthily at work but you eat rubbish all the time when you think no one is watching.  You never listen to the television at a normal volume and you always lose the controls.  You shorten the most random words until they barely make sense and you put so much sugar in your coffee that it's barely even a drink any more!”

Magnus sat up straighter in surprise as Alec began to list many of Magnus’s bad habits and pulled his hands out of the other’s grip.

“What, are you just listing everything you hate about me?”  He asked in confusion.

“Yes,” Alec replied. “Yes, I am.”

Magnus raised his eyebrows as his face filled with hurt.  “Well.  Okay then.”

Alec smiled and reached out and took Magnus’s hand in his own again, coaxing Magnus gently until he unfurled his fingers.

“Because I don’t actually hate them,” Alec explained.  “Well, I mean, I do; they’re annoying as hell,” he amended.  He chuckled softly at the confused look on Magnus’s face and squeezed his hands tighter in his own grip. “But they’re you.   _You’re_ you and these things are what make you, as annoying as they are.”

“I don’t follow,” Magnus said slowly.

“Those stupid habits make you 'you'. I love them.”  Alec paused and looked directly at Magnus, catching his gaze and growing serious.  “I love you.”

Magnus smiled hesitantly, his face breaking into a beam when the words sunk in properly.

“I love everything about you,” Alec continued.  “I love everything that you do – even the things that I hate.  I never realised just how much I did until you weren’t here to do them.  I don’t know why it took so long for me to recognize that I loved you but now that I have, I can’t believe I didn’t notice sooner.”

“I love you too.”  Magnus’ smile was blinding and he stared at Alec until the other man began to get blurry.  Wait, blurry?  Oh, his eyes were filling with tears.  He shook his head in an attempt to clear his vision and tugged on Alec’s hands.

“Come here,” he urged, smiling widely.

“Where am I going?”  Alec looked adorably confused even as he leant forward, powerless to deny Magnus anything.

“I want to kiss you and your body is longer than mine; you can lean further over the table.”

“You’re so lazy,” Alec chuckled with a shake of his head, but he lifted himself up to lean over the carefully set places to kiss his partner.

“But you love it,” Magnus grinned cheekily, completely over the moon that he could say that now – and know it to be true.

“I suppose I do,” Alec smiled, leaning down to kiss him again.


	5. Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it!! Thank you to everyone for reading and commenting, you're all lovely! I hope you enjoy this ending and all of the fluff

It was their four year anniversary, the date falling in late February.  Magnus was in charge of the planning for the evening and had chosen a night in instead of putting all of their expectations on an evening out at a restaurant.  It wasn’t often that they went out for a meal, too many missed reservations when they got distracted or flirting waitresses who made one of them uncomfortable and the other one angry or, one on horrible occasion, food poisoning kind of putting them off.

But even without a fancy meal their evening had been extremely romantic.  Magnus went all out to spoil his boyfriend on such a special night.  Neither of them had made it so far in a relationship before so they were aware of the significance of the occasion. Magnus had been rushing around for weeks trying to find the perfect decorations for their shared apartment, shutting Alec out of there all day much to his amusement.  Izzy and Jace had been left in charge of tidying and decorating the apartment whilst Magnus took Alec on a long walk.  Their walk through the park had retraced the steps from their very first date and had ended at the food truck from then too; no happy accident on Magnus’s part but careful planning with the owner of the truck.  The slices he presented to the men were heart shaped and even had heart-shaped slices of pepperoni on them.

“Happy anniversary, Alexander.”

Alec couldn’t help his surprised laughter at the thoughtful gift and leant in to kiss Magnus passionately.

“Happy anniversary.”

/

“God, Magnus,” Alec breathed into his partner’s neck, “this is the best anniversary ever.”

Magnus huffed out a laugh as Alec began peppering kisses down his throat, “because you got heart-shaped pizza?”

“Yup.”  Alec began to suck a deep bruise into the side of Magnus’s neck as the other struggled to fit his keys in the lock. “That’s all I needed.”  

“Huh, that knowledge would have saved me a lot of effort.” Magnus had let his eyes fall closed under his partner’s attention but they flew back open as the door swung, his breath catching in his throat. He had walked his friends through what he had wanted so many times that he was sure even Jace could remember, but he was still nervous.  He didn’t know why he was so nervous though really.  It was only one more night in their relationship, four year anniversary or not.

Alec’s hands slipped from Magnus’s waist as he walked into the now-open apartment and gasped in pleasant surprise as he took in the sight.  The couch was covered with cushions and blankets, a cocktail bar had been set up at one side of the living room and there was a junk food bar at the other.  There were flameless candles forming pathways in-between the rooms and there were balloons and flowers covering every available flat surface.  Although their anniversary fell close to Valentine’s Day, they chose to only celebrate their own special day rather than sharing it with the world and aimed to make it as romantic as they could.  They usually took turns in planning and preparing for the day, but Magnus’s plans were usually much more over the top than his partner’s.

Alec walked around the open space of the apartment almost in a daze. He smiled at the messages written on the balloons – a few cute one-liners about how he loved Alec’ cute little snores and singing in the shower – and wandered over to the food table which was almost bending with the weight of being laden with all of Alec’s favourite candies and snacks.  He couldn’t help his hand wandering out to snatch a few milk duds and tossed them into his mouth as Magnus headed over to prepare some drinks.

Aleck plucked a rose from a nearby bouquet and walked up behind his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his waist and nuzzling into his neck.  He held the rose up in front of Magnus’s face and pressed a kiss to his temple.

“Be mine?”  He asked with a smile.

Magnus chuckled as he accepted the flower and twisted in Alec’s arm to return the gentle kiss.

“If I have to be.”

/

“Yes!  Three in a row!  Bow down to the champion!”

Alec laughed as Magnus did a victory dance as he caught yet another piece of popcorn that Alec had tossed into his mouth.

“Make it to five and I’ll be impressed.” Alec threw another piece in Magnus’s direction only for the other man to suddenly jump up off the couch and march to the other side of the room.  Alec sat up straighter in a panic until he saw that Magnus was only heading over to the bar in the corner of the room.

“I told Jace to put this on ice!”  He cried, holding up a bottle of champagne with a dramatic roll of his eyes.  “Useless, useless man,” he muttered as he headed into the kitchen to do it himself.  “He had literally seven jobs.  That was it; seven! That is not too many jobs!”

He came back out to the living room still muttering under his breath and joined Alec on the couch again, this time cuddling up closer to the other man’s side.  Alec smiled down at him and twisted himself slightly so that he could look down at Magnus’s face and hold his gaze.  He slipped a hand into his pocket and opened his mouth to speak when Magnus suddenly pulled away again.

“Chairman!”  He was up like a shot as he cried out and ran over to their bedroom and pulled the door open quickly.  He dashed in and emerged holding their squirming feline like a baby, crooning to him much to Alec’s amusement and Chairman Meow’s displeasure.

“I’m sorry that you had to be shut away, baby, but I just couldn’t have you ruining all of Daddy’s hard work by running wild unsupervised.”  Chairman clearly didn’t accept Magnus’s apology as he suddenly wriggled himself right out of Magnus’s hold and dove to the floor, running into the kitchen to the safety of personal space.  Alec tried in vain to hide his smile at the offended look on Magnus’s face and held out his hand to the older man.

“Come here, baby.  He’ll get over it, I'm sure. Come and cuddle with me instead.”

Magnus obeyed and climbed onto the couch once more, sitting face to face with Alec and stretched his legs over his partner's.  Alec reached out and wrapped his arms around Magnus, kissing him soundly with a contented sigh.  As they pulled apart, Alec took one of Magnus’s hands and twisted their fingers together as his other hand reached into his pocket once again.  He opened his mouth to speak when Magnus let out another gasp.  Alec let his head fall back against the couch as Magnus was up and off again, saying something excitedly about a cake in the fridge.

“Magnus!” Alec yelled.  Magnus turned around in surprise at the yell and saw that Alec had stood from the couch.  He watched with a furrowed brow as his boyfriend sank to the floor on one knee.

“Are you okay?” Magnus asked, rushing back over to Alec.  “Why are you on the floor; did you drop something?”

“Take my hand,” Alec requested, holding out his hand palm up to Magnus.

“What? Why?”  Magnus spluttered out his words in shock, even as his hand began to stretch out automatically.

“I am trying to ask you to marry me, so will you please hold my hand!”

Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand when they met in the middle as his brain caught up to Alec’s words. “You – wait… What?”

Alec snickered softly at his boyfriend’s confusion and let Magnus’s hand rest on his palm as he lifted his other hand to slide the rings off Magnus’s fingers gently.  He placed them one-by-one onto the coffee table before finally pulling something out of his pocket.

“I’ve been trying to ask you this question all day but every time I went to do it, something stopped me – mostly you,” he admitted with a huffed laugh.  He held up his ring up for Magnus to see as he carried on talking.

“But now I don’t want to wait; I was all geared up to ask you as soon as we settled down tonight, only you wouldn’t sit still for two seconds!”  He laughed at Magnus’s mock-outraged expression, both men quickly sobering with the seriousness of the moment.

“So now it’s going to be done like this.”  Alec felt his voice shake slightly before he took a steadying breath and continued, “Will you, Magnus Bane, marry me, Alec Lightwood, and continue celebrating every day like it’s our anniversary?”

“Well, I mean, I don’t know that I can do that, Alexander,” Magnus started with a twist to his mouth. Alec’s smile began to fall and his brow crumpled before Magnus carried on, biting down his grin.  “This anniversary set up took a lot of planning and effort and I’m just not sure that it’s realistic to expect this sort of treatment and pampering every day!”

Alec growled as he jumped up, pushing at Magnus until the older man fell backward onto the couch with a shriek of laughter.  They lay there for a minute or two giggling before Magnus grew more serious, lifting a hand to trail his fingers gently down Alec’s cheek.

“Of course I’ll marry you, my darling. I don’t forgive just anyone who ruins my layout fifteen minutes before a presentation.”

“What?!” Alec cried. “You said it was fine!  Magnus, it’s been four years! You – I… Magnus!”

**Author's Note:**

> [Come say hi!](http://s-horne.tumblr.com/)


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